Climate Change Hits Home

How prepared is your state for the challenges to health and the environment being caused by climate change?

08/10/2011 11:32 am ETUpdated
Oct 10, 2011

Do you live in a climate-ready city? How prepared is your state for the challenges to health and the environment being caused by climate change-from the dangers of extreme heat and increased flooding to the spread of ragweed whose pollen causes allergies or mosquitoes that can spread disease?

NRDC just unveiled an incredible web interactive that lets you see how your state might be impacted by climate change. On the site, nrdc.org, you can see local data and maps detailing extreme weather patterns throughout the country, see local climate change vulnerabilities and learn about health problems in your own community that are connected to climate change.

In my state of New York, I was disheartened to see that:

The state has been declared a disaster area 15 times since 2000, due to

damage from severe storms and flooding.

Heat-related mortality in the metropolitan New York region is projected to increase 70 percent by mid-century as temperatures soar.

518 cases of West Nile virus were reported to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) between 1999-2010.

It was extremely hot and dry for much of July in New York State, but nothing like what much of the Midwest and south was experiencing. "This has been one of the hottest and driest summers I can remember in my lifetime" Scott Eckert, a horticulturalist and Harvey County Extension agent, wrote in the Kansan.com.

I was sure my garden vegetables and the trees near the house were feeling the heat as well, but it all became clearer when reading Eckert's list of "things to remember about plants and heat":

Tomatoes like 85 degrees much better than 105 degrees.

Plants do not grow as much in extreme heat.

Less pollination and fruit drop can occur in extreme heat.

Evergreen trees can scorch as well as deciduous trees.

Containerized plants dry out much faster in high heat.

And here is one I learned this weekend-extreme heat makes lettuce taste bitter.

I rely on my garden for much of my salad greens and a lot of my vegetables every summer. So to see it in distress made me pause. What sort of crop loss will America's real farmers experience in the face of hotter summers, extended droughts, more intense storms, and new pests?

What of our cities and towns? Global warming renders drinking water supplies more vulnerable. Consider Florida: According to NRDC's web site, about 96 percent of the state's counties now face higher risks of water shortages by mid-century as the result of climate change.

Similarly in Arizona, where Lake Powell is only half full and the number of hours per summer day that the temperatures exceeds 100 degrees has doubled in the last 50 years, older Americans are particularly vulnerable. Indeed, heat-related deaths in Arizona are the highest of any state-at three to seven times the national average.

You might be wondering if there are any parts of the country that are more resilient/less vulnerable to climate change than others. According to Jeff Opperman, who wrote "Which cities can best adapt to climate change?", the answer is "yes": the top five U.S. cities that are most resilient/least vulnerable to climate change are Cleveland, Milwaukee, Detroit, Chicago, and Minneapolis. As for the bottom five (the least resilient/most vulnerable), his ranking scheme turned up Phoenix, Houston, Sacramento, Las Vegas, and Miami.

Why do Rust Belt cities do so well in his rankings? Because Opperman figures, they have a sustainable water supply (in four of the cities, the Great Lakes); their heat stress rankings are relatively low; and they are less vulnerable to natural disasters that will be exacerbated by climate change, such as floods, landslides, and wildfires. One worrisome observation Opperman makes is that "the most climate-vulnerable cities include some of the fastest growing regions of the country."

We're all going to have to adapt to a changing climate, but we should also do what we can to mitigate the impact. Making sure our homes are outfitted with the most efficient appliances is one fundamental way we can all be better stewards.